Novant Health Hemby Children's Hospital Emergency Room

"Every bad review sums this place up perfectly. My kiddo has a head injury that needs stitches- 5 hours with no end in site waiting. The bathroom and waiting room are beyond repulsive."

"Have been here since 1:45am before the time changed back. It's now 5:37 (would be 6:37) and we got a room 15min ago. My child is 1yo and I'm worried about her breathing. She's sick. She hasn't slept well in two days. She hasn't slept since being here. The waiting room was a mess. The staff seemed unfriendly and bored. If they're just sitting there doing nothing but being on their phones, why is it taking so long? Still haven't been seen. If i wasn't desperate i wouldn't be here. And here this visit will cost me 4k+. Just for sitting here."

"HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE! My daughter was in pain crying was waiting for over an hour for a doctor NOBODY came to check on her was constantly hung up on when called to speak to the charge nurse! The staff at the nurse station on their phones with a carefree attitude very rude and unhelpful laughing & carrying on meanwhile my daughter is crying in pain. I will be reporting this issue! VERY UNPROFESSIONAL WILL NEVER UTILIZE THIS EMERGENCY ROOM AGAIN!"

"*Warning-Long review* I would leave 0 stars if I could. I went in because my 2mo baby had a cough, difficulty/labored breathing, mucus, and a face rash. The night before he had woken up gasping for air. The waiting room was gross, looked it hadn’t been cleaned in a WHILE. When we got back to triage, nurses were very unsympathetic and rough with my baby who was a preemie as is still quite small. They kept telling him to hush for crying when he’s getting moved and jerked around and poked with things. We were then brought back in a room. His oxygen was low and he had a slight temperature. The room we were in was also disgusting. It had trash from the previous people and the floors and walls were filthy and I don’t think the bed had been changed in between. The TV was on max volume, which was making my baby cry more and the remote was under the bed so it took me a while to find it. The doctor that came in was from regular ED, not children’s. He looked him over. That was literally it. Didn’t examine anything except listened to him for about 10 seconds. Said he had some sort of virus and to take him home and just treat his symptoms, though our pediatrician told us he wasn’t quite big enough for meds like Tylenol. I had to ASK him to test for viruses. Even though they just told me he had one….because he said unless they’re really having trouble breathing (he wasn’t at this particular moment, but the wheezing started again once we got back to the car), they can’t really do anything. Just watch and wait and bring him back if he gets worse. Didn’t answer anything about the mucus, mouth rash, etc. Told me to keep him hydrated even though I said he hadn’t wanted to nurse or take a bottle in a while and seemed dehydrated. When I reiterated this, he said “well sometimes they won’t eat as much but that’s okay.” I was confused and kinda mad because this didn’t help anything. Our discharge nurse was the only nice person for pretty much the whole visit. They gave us discharge paperwork that was literally blank except “unknown URI.” They sent us home before we even got the test results back. Said it wouldn’t change anything. No one told me how to leave the ED once I walked out of the room so a nurse yelled at me for going the wrong way, while I’m carrying a child in a car seat, my purse, and a diaper bag by myself. The rest of the experience with the receptionists and public safety outside the ED was just as horrible and no one wanted to help me. They all were just sitting on their phones. Literally 5-6 security guards just sitting at one desk and no one could/would take me back to my car on the other side of the hospital. So I walked by myself around the outside of the hospital, crying, in the dark behind the hospital waste and dumpsters to get back to my car because they wouldn’t let me go through the inside of the hospital the way I came in (lady from front desk walked me to the children’s ED from the front entrance when I got there). By the time I got to my car, my son was coughing more, crying, and the breathing was worse. Ended up finding out from a different doctor that he had HSV from a kiss from a family member that was done behind my back. But this hospital didn’t test for it. I left so upset, scared, and confused, with an even sicker child. Luckily he is getting the care he needs now but this was one of the worst experiences of my life. No one seemed to want to help. I also got the bill just a few hours later. I should’ve listened to the previous reviews but because my husband works for Novant, I wanted to try this one before Levine. And I’ve been to this hospital for other things and never had any issues. But what everyone said in previous reviews is true, DO NOT BRING YOUR CHILD HERE. If I could do it all over again, I never would step foot back in that place and would’ve taken my son to the other place first, before he needed more emergency care. Please, if you all really care about children like all your posters say you do, DO BETTER."

"I usually take my son to a pediatric urgent care for emergencies, but figured he might need x rays so an emergency room might be better. This pediatric emergency room was great. The waiting room was super clean and kid friendly. We were quickly escorted to the examination room (which was just as spottless) and seen by an RN and had x rays taken. Every one from the person at check in to the Dr was kind and caring and attentive. We spent approximately 2hrs in the ER. This is definitely my go to emergency room for my tot."